The Wandering Ninja
by fatyao
Summary: The Leaf was never Naruto's home. In fact, he's never had a home. Naruto's been raised by 2 nomadic clans of the world's greatest assasins and now he's on his own, searching for his supposedly alive father. Where will his journey bring him to?
1. Enter Konohamaru

Summary: Naruto never lived in the Leaf. In fact, he's never had a home at all. After the Kyuubi sealing, the Hokage sent him off to a friend. He's been traveling around with 2 nomadic clans for the major part of his life, training and traveling and eating ramen of course. But one day, he gets a clue to his real family and now he's traveling alone, looking for more clues to who his real family is and more specifically, where his father is as he's supposedly alive right now. And when he finds that many clues to his family lies in Konoha, what will happen when the Kyuubi container returns to the Leaf?

A/N – I've decided to write a Naruto fic. Why? I had some extra free time. This is more of an introductory chapter, since Naruto doesn't play a big part in this. This is more based on…a certain someone from the show. One quick non-spoiler, there will be 2 age changes for certain characters for the sake of story. Got it? So don't be surprised when you see some people older than they're supposed to be…

Disclaimer. NOT MINE. NOTHING MINE.

**Chapter 1 – A Different Dream**

The Water Country was a curious place to be at this time, being the former setting for one of the most bloodiest feuds in a while, the Bloodline massacre. In those days, fear of people or ninjas with bloodlines ran rampant, and within a matter of weeks, hundreds and hundreds of families with bloodlines were exterminated; even after the Bloodline Massacre, there were still many people who were afraid of bloodlines and would attack any suspicious looking stranger who would dare approach.

And nothing was more suspicious then the blonde haired, blue-eyed Uzumaki Naruto, with whisker marks on his childish face with an almost always-present grin.

He was traveling alone; something that most travelers never would have dared to try, for being caught alone in these days traveling in the wilderness was pretty much shouting for danger. Even though it had been around 20 years since the Great Shinobi Wars were ended, there were still many bandits that preyed on unwary travelers. In fact, traveling by yourself without a group of fellow travelers or ninja bodyguards was considered the dumbest things to do as of now, especially in a dangerous country such as Water.

Peaceful times were not always the safest; and many bandits, thugs, rogues, and thieves took advantage of any people who were caught unawares from the peaceful times they had now.

The blonde boy didn't seem to know that rule, being a child and still traveling alone by himself; though one could tell from the way he carried himself, he had done this by himself multiple times.

Naruto wore a large conical straw hat, with a white long traveling cloak that was flowing around the boy in the wind; underneath the cloak was a garb consisted of all black, from the shoes to the pants to the T-shirt and the long black jacket that rested over the T-shirt. Strapped to his back was a pair of identical sheathed shortened katanas in a crisscross pattern so the grip and a part of a sheath stuck out on each side of the body. Underneath his long black pants was a pair of black boots. Strapped over his black jacket's sleeves from was a rather bulky gauntlet made of a black metal that had an occasional stripe of silver metal. A large slab of silver metal was strapped around the palm; this slab went up to the knuckles of the hand, which underneath he wore a black glove that cut off half of the fingers.

The boy was currently walking in a forest where the sun filtered through the trees and a gentle breeze blew every few seconds or so, sending the boy's cloak billowing around him. The boy walked calmly, the edge of the conical straw hat covering most of his face.

Just as he reached the edge of the forest, a group of 4 men sprung out from a ditch near the road, brandishing long swords and screaming curses at the boy.

The leader of the group stepped forward and smirked "Alright little kid, give me all of your possessions, and I'll let you go away without a bruise…"

The young blonde paused and stood silent for a moment before opening his mouth to speak for the first time. His voice was rather carefree and childish, though it had an edge of experience to them.

"Ah…I'm sorry, but I don't have any possessions really…"

"LIAR! Those swords strapped to your back right there look like a beauty to me!" one of the members yelled, before being silenced by the leader.

"Look kid, you're traveling alone without any ninja escorts and you're up against 4 of us. What'd ya think ya can do? Just gimme those swords and all yer' money or else we'll beat the shit out of you!"

"I don't have any money at all and I'm afraid I can't give these swords up, sir." The boy replied politely.

"Then I'll take them from you! Get 'm guys!" the leader yelled and all four charged at the boy, screaming curses at them.

The 12-year-old blonde simply raised a hand and tipped the edge of the straw hat lower before lowering his upper body and speedily charging at the would-be muggers.

Before any of them could react, the boy suddenly appeared before them. A mugger swiped at him and smirked as he saw the sword was about to hit, but just at the last instant before the blade would hit, the boy seemed to just...float away from the blade quickly, quietly and with a deadly grace.

Within exactly 2 seconds , the muggers were on the ground unconscious. The boy acted as if nothing had happened and continued on his way through the path, silently thinking about what was going to happen.

_Maybe I'll find the scroll here in this country... And when I do, I'll definitely find you, father._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In Konoha

"Congratulations on graduating from the academy! You are now shinobi of Konoha!" Iruka, the current chuunin instructor of the shinobi instructor called with a gigantic smile on his face at seeing his prized students become genin of Konoha. There was an eruption of cheers throughout the classroom and most of the students began jumping up in celebration while some of the more quiet ones stayed in their seats, looking annoyed at the sudden cheerfulness just from passing a simple genin exam.

"Yay! I'll be a shinobi with Sasuke-kun!" A pink haired girl yelled out in the celebration.

"What? Hell no! That's gonna be me!" A blonde haired girl yelled. The two girls began to fight and were soon joined by the other girls.

"I'm gonna be with Sasuke-kun!"

"No I will!"

"I will!"

A massive fight broke out and Iruka sighed before trying to break it up. This happened nearly every day…

The said boy, Uchiha Sasuke, sat brooding at his desk, annoyed at having to sit here and listen to this useless nonsense. He had some training to do, and he would be damned if he couldn't kill his brother, Itachi, because he had some annoying fan-girl on his ass every day.

Another boy sat and looked wistfully at the mass of girls that were currently being separated by Iruka. _Will she ever like me?_ The boy gazed intently at a certain pink haired girl. He wore a new forehead protector was around his head, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. He had dark hair and a face that made him look younger than he was. He had barely passed, unable to create more than 2 bunshins rather than the prerequisite 3 due to his terrible chakra control despite having his own private tutor. The boy suspected it had something to do with who his grandfather was…

_Damn you old man! I'm always in your shadow!_ The dark-haired boy was named Sarutobi Konohamaru

After Iruka finally broke up the mass fight, he returned to the front to finish what he was saying "I will assign you now to your teams. Team 1…"

_Stupid perverted Ebisu-sensei! He never teaches me anything to help my chakra control! And he says he'll give me the shortcut to being a Hokage when he can't even beat my Oiroke no jutsu?_ Konohamaru furiously thought, angry that some of the teachers giving him special treatment just because he was the Hokage's grandson. _Old man, I'll get out of your shadow and prove that I'm just as strong as anybody and not some spoiled brat! I'll become a better Hokage than you'll ever be! And maybe than, Sakura would like me…_ Konohamaru blushed a little as he gazed at a certain pink-haired Haruno Sakura that was fighting with Yamanaka Ino.

"Team 7…Sarutobi Konohamaru" Konohamaru looked up "Haruno Sakura" Konohamaru cheered and jumped up around at being on the same team with his crush. Sakura looked down-heartened at being on the same team as the dead-last of the year. Sakura believed the only reason that he passed was because he was the Hokage's grandson. "…And Uchiha Sasuke!" Sakura stood up and cheered this time, while Konohamaru looked down in anger while Sasuke seemed indifferent.

Konohamaru truly disliked the Uchiha genius since he always looked down on him. Sasuke acted superior to everyone just because he was the last Uchiha while treating Konohamaru as trash for being the weak dead last.

"Team 8… Hinata Hyuuga, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino." The only person that was mentioned that did anything to acknowledge being called was the always-loud Inuzuka Kiba, who yelled something about being the strongest one of them all. Hinata Hyuuga blushed deeply while Shino acted indifferently.

_I guess we're not on the same team, Konohamaru-kun._ Hinata thought as she gazed at the boy with a deep blush of red with her pale eyes of the Hyuuga bloodline; she had a long time crush on the boy, mainly for his determination and drive to be a Hokage. He was probably the only one in the class that had a real dream and goal unlike the girls who only vocabulary was Sasuke, amazing, and marriage. Hinata herself had no dream or ambition to drive her. One day,she saw Konohamaru training hard in the fields, yelling to himself that'll he'll become Hokage. Slowly but gradually, Hinata developed a crush on the boy, after spying on him whenever he was training.

"Team 9, Hyuuga Hanabi, Akashi Sora, Minazaki Akira" Hyuuga Hanabi, who was the twin sister of Hinata sighed deeply. Her team was just a bunch of nondescript ninja wannabes, she'd probably have to baby-sit them and they'd just drag her down. Hanabi and Hinata were twins but the only thing they shared was the birthday; they were completely different in personality and appearance and had absolutely nothing in common. Hinata was shy and quiet while Hanabi was arrogant. They were fated to fight for the head of the clan position in a few years when the current head retired. While Hanabi was a genius, excelling at all aspects just like Branch Member Hyuuga Neji had done, Hinata was merely mediocre, and who only half-heartedly fought with hardly any skill or grace at all. She was a failure while Hanabi was obviously superior. But she just couldn't see why her father seemed to like Hinata more when she was stronger. She had more than once complained that Hinata should just be sent to the branch house for her weakness but her father simply looked stern and said one thing "Physical strength and ability is not what makes a leader." Hanabi snorted. _As if my weak sister could be a leader._

"Team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru and Chouji just simply accepted it while Ino, the blonde girl obsessed with Sasuke, cried and hit her head on her desk.

"All of you will meet here tomorrow to meet you Jounin teachers. You may go!Congratulations!" Iruka walked out of the classroom while the class rose, chatting excitedly on being a genin as they left. Konohamaru walked away with hands in his pockets and he was about to go home to go to his tutor's classes before someone bumped into him.

It was Sasuke, the top of the class and the hero of all the girls there. "Hmph, sorry there, dead last. Oh wait, I meant Sarutobi-sama. Don't try to hold me back when you're on my team, grandson of the Hokage." Sasuke smirked, knowing that it would piss the boy off, and he walked away, leaving a fuming Konohamaru.

Konohamaru stood there, his fist shaking in anger. He took a moment to control himself before a silver-haired chuunin named Mizuki walked up to him. Mizuki was Iruka's assistant teacher and was always kind to most of the students, but this time, he had an evil grin on his face.

"So, Konohamaru-kun, you want to get out of your grandfather's shadow?" Konohamaru jumped at the voice before nodding "Well, I'll give you a little shortcut right now. All you need to do is…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In Water Country

"Get out of here, you damn brat!" An old man yelled, chasing after a certain blonde out of restaurant with broom.

"What the hell was that for? All I did was eat all of your ramen and not pay for it…wait, that sounds quite of bad…" Naruto said to himself, while running for his life from the angry owner of his bar.

"DAMN BRAT! YOU BETTER PAY FOR THAT OR WORK FOR IT!"

"Ah, Sorry, I dropped my wallet into the bottom of a river and by the time I fished it out, all the money had been eaten by the fishes."

"LIAR!" The owner through the broomstick at Naruto who grew a massive bump on his head from where the strike hit.

"OW!" Naruto yelled as the old man reached him and glared with angry eyes. "You are coming back with me and you are going to work off your bill got it, kid?" the man said dangerously.

"Ah, all this for ramen? Ramen is too good to be restricted like that, you know, it's wonderful goodness should be spread around the public!" the boy said as he was dragged through the streets to the stares of many strangers.

"SHUT UP BOY! You're gonna work non-stop for 3 days to pay off all you ate!"

"NOOOOOO!" Naruto pitifully moaned as he was dragged into the restaurant.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Back in Konoha

"Damnit! How the hell did this happen?" Konohamaru cursed as he dodged through the forest, Mizuki on his trail. Mizuki had told him shortly after the graduation that if he could steal the forbidden scroll of seals from the Hokage's office, and then learn one technique, then he would become one step closer to being a Hokage. Konohamaru easily took out the Hokage with his famed Oiroke no Jutsu, the #1 tool for any prankster like Konohamaru, and then took the scroll with no difficulty. He had just learned one technique when Mizuki appeared, yelling for the scroll.

Soon after, Iruka appeared, yelling not to give him the scroll and revealed that Mizuki was a traitor, using Konohamaru to gain the scroll of seals. Iruka then jumped in front of Konohamaru to protect him from a large windmill shuriken thrown by Mizuki and then told him to run.

And that's how Konohamaru ended up with a scroll full of kinjutsus on his back with an angry silver haired chuunin right behind him.

"Come on, Hokage's grandson! Give me the scroll! You're just a useless weak brat who lives in the shadow of his grandfather! You're nothing! You're no one! What can you expect to do against a chuunin like me?" The words stung Konohamaru like a hot knife through his heart. He knew it was true and that everybody thought of him that way, but no one dared to say it to his face directly like that

Konohamaru spent his whole life in a lie, trying to believe no one thought of him like that, even though deep within his mind he knew it was true. For someone to say what he unconsciously knew right to his face… it caused Konohamaru to stop running, allowing the chuunin to catch up.

"That's right Konohamaru-kun. Just give in to your fate and give me that scroll…that's all you'll be useful for anyways…" Konohamaru looked down, tears dripping from his eyes. Was he that useless? Was that all he would be, a tool to be used by people as they will? Was he that… weak?

Mizuki grinned and reached for the scroll only to dodge back as a couple of shuriken were tossed at him. Mizuki looked around to see a panting Iruka, who had blood staining through his chuunin vest where the windmill shuriken had hit.

"Heh, thought you'd be dead or at least unconscious by now. Caught yourself a second wind did you now?" Mizuki lauged evilly at the weakened Iruka, panting heavily. Iruka strained for a moment before saying

"K-k-Konohamaru-kun… Y-you are not…useless… you are… not weak… But if you…give in… now… You'll be exactly… as he…s-said…" Iruka weakly stated, his body drooping lower "Y-y-you want to be…acknowledged? I k-know the f-feeling… My parents…they were killed by the Kyuubi 12 years ago… I felt so lonely… I hated the fox…but I realized… it was m-my fault that I a-allowed myself to blame the fox…and be weak like that. I-I-I wanted so desperately to be acknowledged…t-that I did pranks just like you…" Iruka coughed out some more blood and he fell to his knees gasping for air.

"But if you want…o-others to acknowledge you… then… then…p-prove your s-strength! D-d-don't allow yourself to just w-wallow in your problems…overcome them… G-grow… and then rise from your g-grandfather's shadows…and become…your own person…a-and a strong shinobi…" Iruka gasped and he collapsed to the ground.

"Heh, so touching Iruka. But it's not gonna help! The boy! He hates this village for \ ignoring him! He wants them to realize his strength! I will help you to achieve that strength, Konohamaru! Now give me that scroll and I'll give you power!" Mizuki laughed and turned to Iruka "I'll finish you off now…"

Konohamaru looked surprised at Iruka, because no one would bother telling him things like these, not to the Hokage's Grandson. _My own person? Overcome my own problems? I see…If I want to be acknowledged…by Sakura-chan, Ojii-san, Iruka, my classmates, and even Sasuke-teme… and the entire village…_Konohamaru's memory flashed back to when his Grandfather had visited the academy to lecture the students.

_"We shinobi are strong as one, but unbeatable together. Our true strength will manifest when we protect those we hold precious to us." _

_"Who is precious to you Hokage-sama?" _

_"Everyone in this village. Just like they were to you… " The Sandaime Hokage said, facing the statue of the Yondaime, the village's strongest Hokage._

Konohamaru looked up, a new resolve burning in his eyes. _If I want them to acknowledge me…I will have to be strong…and to be strong…means that I will protect them with my life!_

"DIE!" Mizuki yelled insanely and threw his shuriken at Iruka, who closed his eyes in defeat. Mizuki laughed insanely before realizing one thing; Konohamaru had caught the shuriken that he had thrown.

"As the future Hokage of this village…I cannot allow you to harm anyone!" Konohamaru yelled. Mizuki smirked after he recovered from the initial surprise.

"What can you do kid? I'm a chuunin, I'll kill you a thousand times over!"

"And I'll return that a thousand times over! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru yelled and formed a cross seal, the only technique that he learned from the scroll. A new power that he never knew he had sprung forth from the deeps of his soul, and within moments, around 30 kage bunshins formed around the unlucky chuunin, who squeaked in fear.

_Kage Bunshin? The technique that creates actual clones, not just illusions! No way, how did Konohamaru learn that?_ Iruka thoughts raced as the clones mobbed the unlucky Mizuki, revealing a beat up and disfigured Mizuki after the dust cloud from the clones died out.

Konohamaru stood over the body with a grin on his face

Iruka only laid there in shock as he couldn't believe that the newly graduated dead-last Konohamaru used a high-level kinjutsu with no problems at all and also defeated a chuunin. After Iruka recovered he managed to say to the currently silent boy "Konohamaru…you will be a great ninja…and a wonderful Hokage. I acknowledge you and I fully expect you to be a Hokage."

Konohamaru turned and grinned at Iruka once more "Thank you Iruka-sensei. Wanna go get some ramen after this?"

--------Somewhere in Water Country--------

"NOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE LET ME GO! CHILD LABOR! CHILD LABOR!" Naruto screamed as he tried to escape from the restaurant, a struggling old man holding him back to the door "IT'S FORCED CHILD LABOR! SLAVERY! NOOOOOOOOO!"

TBC

A/N Naruto may not have played a big part now nor was there any development on his past, but I'll take care of that later on. I'm just trying to establish the changes now that Naruto never lived in the Leaf. I've just changed Konohamaru's age just for this story to work, since I didn't want to make an OC to fill in the blanks of Team 7 nor did I want to rearrange the teams. I've seen those fics where the Teams are rearranged to where they make no sense at all with no balance. And Naruto always managed to end up with Hinata…so unoriginal… Oh, and I've decided to add Hanabi and change her to Hinata's twin because…well…I sort of like her and I want to see her as a genin, though she has no spot whatsoever in the anime, which allows authors to use their imagination for the character, though she's usually a stubborn stuck-up Hyuuga, like in this fic… hehehe… But other than that, she does play a part in the story but thats for later...

What's Naruto's goal in this fic? If you didn't read the summary, then you'll find out a little more about Naruto, his abilities and his past in later chapters. I tried to focus on creating the setting on this fic. Naruto's side might just be a comic relief until later chapters when he finally makes his appearance as the main character.

Anyways, hoped you enjoy this fic… please review… if you want to see a second chapter...


	2. Missions

A/N why do I continue this fic? I won't be counting this as a "main" fic project as mine, just something to relieve the tension I had from writing superbly long chapters and then…to rewrite them due to extreme suckiness. So anyways, one note is that I don't plan any pairings. Why? I like action more than pairings.

Disclaimer – Same rules apply.

Chapter 2 – Missions 

Uzumaki Naruto was once again, traveling throughout Water country, in his normal attire, with the sun bearing down on him; his conical hat protecting him from the glaring sunlight. He walked silently, his light footsteps not making any sound as they touched the ground.

Just as he walked past a ditch, more bandits appeared, yelling out threats and curses. Thugs and bandits ran rampant these days, and there were hardly a single stretch of a long road without someone ready to mug you. Ninja were needed just to travel between countries.

"Gimme all your-m…GEH!" the leader of the group yelled as Naruto appeared in front of him, punching him far away. He was **not** in the mood right now, having just worked 3 days for a damn ramen chef just to pay off his enormous bill. _Never thought ramen would be so hard to clean up!_ Naruto thought, having washed enough dishes to last for his life.

Within a matter of seconds, all of the would-be thugs were on the ground moaning with giant bruises all over their bodies. Naruto went on his way as if nothing had happened, cheerfully whistling.

"Let's see here…ummm…" Naruto whipped out a map from out of thin air and started carefully scrutinizing it "Next town is about…ummm…3,000 miles away…Oh, that can't be right. 3 miles away, great." And so Naruto continued on his long journey alone. _I'm sure they'll be clues somewhere in Water Country…I'll definitely find my family!_

- - - - - - - - - - -In Konoha

"Damnit old man! You don't have to walk me to the academy! I can go on my own!" A struggling Konohamaru yelled at the short old man dressed in white robes beside him. He was Konohamaru's grandfather, Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha.

"Haha, Konohamaru-kun, can't a grandpa see his grandson off on his first day as a genin?" the old man said with a smile on his face.

"NO DAMNIT! I'm not 6 anymore! I can walk to the academy!" Konohamaru vehemently fumed in anger as the old man laughed loudly at his angry grandson.

"Yes, you have grown quite a lot, Konohamaru-kun." The old man placed his hand on Konohamaru's head and ruffled his hair a bit. The moment the Hokage had heard the news with Mizuki and how Konohamaru had beaten him; it was safe to assume that he was shocked. Perhaps slightly more than shocked, but either way, Konohamaru beat a chuunin by himself being only a genin. _He might become Hokage some time…_ the old man silently thought as Konohamaru berated him for ruffling his hair like he was some small child.

Finally, they arrived at the academy and Konohamaru ran off quickly, eager to get away from his grandfather, who only just laughed at the speed the young boy ran with. The Hokage sighed, as he knew his grandson would have to wait for several hours for the jounin teacher that he was assigned to…

The Sandaime turned around and went back to his own home, and briefly glimpsed the Hokage Mountain, in which all the Hokages of the village were carved on, the old man's youthful face being the third one on there. As the Sandaime looked at the fourth face on which the face of the Yondaime had been inscribed, the greatest of all Hokages and protectors of the village, the Hokage was suddenly reminded on what the last moments of the Yondaime's life was for.

_Naruto-kun…I wonder how you are doing? Did I make the right choice in sending you away from the village? I hope you are well…_ The old man silently walked back to his office, where a mountainous pile of paperwork awaited him.

- - - - -Flashback- - - - -

"Are you sure you want to do this, Hokage-sama? My clan will most likely not accept the boy, even though I am their leader." A dark haired man dressed in a long black cloak that covered most of his body and face said. He was currently talking to a younger Sarutobi who was dressed in the usual Hokage's robes.

"Yes, I believe that you owe the Yondaime a favor? Please take care of Naruto, the council has been calling for his death." The Hokage sadly remarked.

"I see…then I will try my best to persuade my clan into accepting him. You know the consequences of this right? He will have no home just like my clan. He might even one day think of your village as an enemy depending on the circumstances."

"Yes, I understand. The life of a wanderer is a bit harsh, but I believe the boy can survive. I don't think he will hate Konoha, the blood of his parents flows in his vein."

"I see… then I will take the boy right now, before the council should suspect anything." The cloaked man looked over the village that was busy rebuilding itself from the Kyuubi's attack. The pair sat silently until the cloaked man stood up and took the baby boy that was cradled in the old man's arms.

There was no goodbyes or farewells or even acknowledgement of what the man was doing; the Hokage simply looked over the village as the cloaked man and the baby in his arms disappeared from Konoha.

- - - - - - End Flashback - - - - -

The said boy that the Hokage was wondering about was currently wandering the roads around Water Country until he arrived in a certain village. This village was his main reason for coming into the Water Country, for a special scroll resided in this area. A scroll that Naruto had been looking for, for over 4 months when he learned of its existence. He had only learned of its location from the last place he traveled to. And hopefully, the scroll would reveal the information he was so desperately looking for.

As soon as he entered the village, he quickly sent up a base of operations, otherwise known as a rooftop of a hotel that he planned to break into to sleep every now and then. Now, he would begin the information gathering.

Naruto walked to the nearest pub he saw, hoping to pick up some info from the locals…

- - - - - - - -Konoha

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE?" The shrill voice of Haruno Sakura rang through the small classroom, effectively making both Sasuke and Konohamaru become deaf. They were the only genins still left in the room; their instructors had picked all the others up already. Even Iruka had to go off to prepare for another class.

"Relax, Sakura-chan, I'm sure he'll come soon." Konohamaru tried to placate Sakura but she only yelled some more. "HE'S BEEN LATE FOR AN HOUR ALREADY? IS THIS GUY REALLY A NINJA?" 2 more hours had passed and there was still no sign of their assigned Jounin instructor.

"Damnit! He'll pay for being late!" Konohamaru ran up to the front, now fully pissed off, opened the door slightly, and placed a chalkboard eraser over the small gap. "He'll pay!"

"Ha? You think that's gonna work idiot? He's a jounin!" Sakura said as Konohamaru sat down giggling. Just as she said that, a silver haired jounin walked into the room, to have the eraser fall on him.

Sakura and Konohamaru blinked before exploding in unrestrained laughter. Sasuke smiled just the slightest bit. Their instructor, who had a forehead protector over his left eye, a blue mask over his lower face and a normal jounin vest, looked peeved before saying

"My first impression of you guys…I don't like you." The jounin nonchalantly said. Sakura and Konohamaru's heads dropped on their desk "Meet me on the rooftop." The teacher disappeared with a sudden burst of wind and leaves. Team 7 looked at each other before silently filing out of the classroom towards the rooftop.

When they reached the rooftop, they found their silver-haired instructor reading a little orange book. He snapped it shut as he saw his team arrive. "Let's start with introductions. Tell me about yourself, likes and dislikes, and dreams with the future. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like and dislike many things. My goals…are none of your business." Kakashi finished lazily, his tone being a bored one.

_All we learned was his name?_ "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…Sasuke! I dislike…Ino-pig and Konohamaru!" Konohamaru looked disheartened at this. "And my dream is to marry Sasuke-kun!" She squealed girlishly as all three of them sweat dropped.

"Me next!" Konohamaru declared boisterously "My name is Sarutobi Konohamaru! I dislike people who only know you for your family, Sasuke-teme, people who think they are superior, Sasuke-teme, being in my Grandfather's shadow, Ebisu-pervert, and oh did I mention Sasuke-teme?" Konohamaru looked at Sasuke, who didn't seem to hear anything while Sakura just glared at him "I like training and new techniques and playing around. My dream is to surpass my grandfather and become the greatest Hokage ever!"

_He's grown in an interesting way…the Hokage's grandson huh? Interesting teams this year…any now…_ Kakashi turned towards Sasuke as well as the rest of the team. Konohamaru glared at him in pure hatred while Sakura's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes or dislikes. My dream, no, my goal in life is to revive my clan and kill a man." The Uchiha said with a dark tone, giving off a bad aura.

_I see…_was all Kakashi said, as he lowered his eyes in sadness, in remembrance of his former subordinate who commited one of the most terrible sins. Sakura looked at Sasuke with amazement and yelled "So cool!" while Konohamaru huffed and turned away "Stop trying to act cool." was all that he said.

Sasuke ignored both his teammates comments, and continued to stay silent as Kakashi began to explain life as a genin.

"Now we will have a certain…skill test tomorrow. Meet me on training ground 7, at 6-tomorrow morning. Don't be late. Oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll throw up." Kakashi lazily waved and disappeared with a puff of smoke. The newly formed genin squad looked at each other in confusion and shock before going their own separate ways.

- - - - - - - - - -

Naruto had been fruitlessly searching for any information for nearly an entire day. He went around the many shops, bars, offices, and libraries but found nothing pertaining to the scroll that he was looking for. After all, there were bound to be plenty of scrolls in this town, why would anyone notice another forgotten and unread scroll in this town? Naruto sighed and returned to the hotel he deemed his base of operations. He picked out a random window and broke in, carefully checking that no one was there.

After getting more comfortable in the room that he didn't pay for, he immediately jumped into bed. He had had a long day after all… Naruto's consciousness faded away as his eyes drooped and slowly, his past flashed before him in his dreams…

- - - - - - Dream Sequence - - - - - -

"Hey old man! Eri-chan just told me about ninja villages!" a young 6-year-old Naruto yelled, racing towards a solitary figure sitting down in a meditating position. The figure looked up to see Naruto running at him.

"Oh really? Was it interesting?" the man asked. Naruto shrugged "Sort of. But why don't we live in a village? Why are we always traveling?" The man thought mulled this over before quickly replying with "Well, I guess I'll tell you about it."

"Our clan is a powerful one, being the most skilled in taijutsu and kenjutsu, though we have no skill whatsoever in ninjutsu or genjutsu. We are the best assassins the world has to offer, specializing in silent kills rather than loud noisy elemental jutsus that ruin any chance at stealth. We are the world's best silent assassins; therefore every ninja village wants our skills and abilities. That is why we are nomadic or always traveling. If we stay in the same place, the villages come after us and try to recruit us just so they could use us and steal our skills and techniques."

"So it that bad?" Naruto asked curiously. The man laughed softly "In some ways, no but in other ways yes. If we settle down in a village, they'll steal our abilities and skills and then use us as tools. We might be ninja, but we are still human with emotions and feelings. We will not allow our children to be used as killing tools."

Naruto pouted as he thought about this "Hmmm… I don't get it at all…" The man laughed once again "I expected that Naruto. So I'll put this in simpler terms, if we settle in a village, people will try to steal all those techniques you worked so hard to learn."

Naruto looked shocked and angry "No way! Even "Shadow Step"? I spent weeks to learn that!" The man laughed once more at the young blonde's antics "Especially Shadow Step. It's one of our clan's most used techniques anyways."

Naruto looked amazed before thinking some more until he looked downcast at the ground "Ne, Old man, where did I come from? The other kids say I ain't from this clan…So where did I come from? Who is my family?"

The man looked saddened before saying "I do not know. But I'm sure you'll find out anyway. All you need to know is that your family loved you very much. You might not be from this clan, but we are a family and family stay together and care for each other."

Naruto looked up in happiness "We…we're family?" The man smiled and looked up in the sky, a mysterious look of happiness on his face.

"Yes Naruto, we're family."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - End Dream- - - - - - - - - - -

Naruto woke up with a start, as there was knocking at the door. "Hello? Is someone there? Who's there! Did you pay for this room?"

"SHIT!" Naruto yelled and jumped out the window from where he came, quickly grabbing his things on the way out. _Guess I'll need a new place to sleep…_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -In Konoha

"You mean to say that the entire test…was just to test our teamwork?" a dumbstruck Konohamaru yelled out Kakashi, who nodded simply after reading his orange book. The little strength test they had turned out to be another graduation exam that would decide which teams would pass that year. Kakashi's test involved getting two bells, which was nearly impossible.

Konohamaru had charged at him once they started after Kakashi showed up 4 hours late, using Kage Bunshin as his main strategy, only to be beaten by a single punch from Kakashi who had his head buried in a small orange book. Sasuke did better but ended up with his body buried in the ground. Sakura ended up in a pit crying and muttering about "them" and how they were coming to get her.

It was quite interesting.

After that, Konohamaru ended up tied to a log because he tried to steal his lunch, which was lying right on a forgotten rock. Kakashi warned Sakura and Sasuke not to feed him, but they did anyway, to which Kakashi appeared and told them they passed and left a single bit of advice before he disappeared.

"Those that don't follow the rules are trash, but those that abandon their friends are worse than trash. Don't forget that, as you are now a team from this day forward."

Konohamaru sighed as he walked to his favorite stand, the Ichiraku Ramen stand. That little test sure was annoying…and that Kakashi's fingers ended up in a place that they **really** shouldn't be. Konohamaru still had trouble sitting down…needless to say, the so-called future Hokage would never speak of this again.

"Stupid Kakashi-sensei…" Konohamaru muttered darkly, "Ah well, missions start tomorrow, guess I gotta sleep early…It's gonna be exciting!" Konohamaru cheerfully jumped up and started running eagerly toward his home.

--The Next Day--

"Your first mission as a new genin of the village of Konoha will be…" the Hokage paused deliberately for effect. Konohamaru was about to die from the anticipation…

"Will be to clean the toilets at a local motel."

"EHHHHHHHHHH????"

- - - - - - - - - - -In a town in Water Country 2 months after Konohamaru's first mission

"So, do you know anything about this scroll?" Naruto asked a man at a restaurant; after he explained what the scroll's contents were about. The man paused before saying "No, but I think I know where you need to look. I heard that there was an extensive scroll library somewhere in Wave Country, if you want to look. Some old guy traveled around the world, collecting scrolls and ended up settling down in Wave Country after he got old. I think your scroll might be there. But I hear that Wave's been taken over by some guy. Gatou I think it was? Anyways, kinda dangerous if you go over there, might need to hire some bodyguards. Also, Gatou probably took all the scrolls, so it might be a tad hard to get the scrolls."

"Wave Country? Got it! Thanks old man!" Naruto grinned, "I've been looking for the scroll for a while! Owe ya one!"

"Yeah yeah, kid, you said you would treat me to lunch so…" the man laughed as he called for the bill "It's about…what the…where did…" the blonde kid that was just sitting there had just disappeared.

"Sir, that'll be 1500 yen."

"T-t-that…that…BRAT! I'LL KILL HIM!" The man screamed as Naruto was already out of the town chuckling.

"Guess that's one more town I'll never go back to. So Wave Country eh?" Naruto lowered his conical straw hat over his eyes before continuing on his face.

This is it…I'll definitely find out who my family are…and where you are, father.

- - - - - - In Konoha

"GIVE US A BETTER MISSION ALREADY GRAMPS!" Konohamaru yelled at the Hokage who was straightening out his papers. Kakashi stood behind him, clearly embarrassed while Sasuke looked away and Sakura glared at Konohamaru, but seemed to agree slightly.

_Stupid idiot, yelling at Hokage-sama like that…even if he is his grandson…But I see his point, I'm tired of chasing after that DAMNED CAT! _Inner Sakura fumed while she tried to plead her case as well "Yeah, Our missions aren't fit for genin!"

Kakashi sighed and said, "You guys are still genin and only graduated recently, plus you're inexperienced. You gotta work your way up from D-rank missions before you get the higher ones."

"What Kakashi said is true…" the Hokage started "But I believe this team is one of the better skilled genin squads this year. All right, I'll grant you a C-Rank mission as long as you don't complain about any more D-ranked missions in the future!" Konohamaru jumped up with glee yelling, "Don't worry gramps! You won't regret this!"

The Hokage chuckled and said "Your missions is to escort a certain bridge builder back to his home. You won't encounter any other nins since this is a C-ranked, but you might run into a few bandits. Can you do this?" All three genins vehemently nodded.

"Very well, then you will escort Tazuna-san to his home."

"Where is his home?"

"Wave Country."

TBC

A/N that's it for now. I'm trying to focus on bringing Naruto into this fic, which I'll do next chapter. So that's it for now. Please review and stuff like that…not that I write for the reviews, but it sure as hell is an ego booster.

More about Naruto's past later. Shadow Step is irrelevant at this point in time.


	3. Enter Naruto

A/N Why am I updating so quick? I've reached a terribly annoying dead end in writing another fan fic, and I'm just trying to relieve some writing energy by using this story. I've pretty much wrote this one month ago and I randomly decided to upload this fic. I got plenty of terrible chapters that just need editing before I just upload them. That explains the quick updates. 

Naruto is introduced to Team 7 in this chapter, as well as the first fight scene. I haven't done any real fight scenes in my other fic, and I plan to do many, so here's just a little practice. Gimme some feedback on that please…

So now… disclaimer – same rules apply.

**Chapter 3 – Enter Naruto**

Team Kakashi slowly walked down the path, in order for their current charge to be able to keep up with the ninjas. Tazuna was a bridge builder, hoping for some protection to escort him to his home and then protect him while he finished building the bridge. Tazuna wore a worker's garb with a bottle of sake attached to his hip, which would explain his sake breath.

Sasuke walked with a small pack on his back, ignoring everything and everyone while Sakura followed Sasuke like a dog. With giant puppy eye dogs. Kakashi was reading his perverted orange book as usual while Konohamaru…

Konohamaru was bickering with Tazuna because Tazuna had called him a short weak brat.

"I AM NOT WEAK!"

"Sure looks like it."

"Grrrr… I'll kill you!"

"Umm…I thought I was paying you guys to protect me…not kill me…"

"Grrr…"

"Are you really the Hokage's grandson?"

"SHUT UP!" and so the bickering continued for a while, each of them constantly getting on each other's nerves. Around midday, the group came across a puddle right in the middle of the path.

_A puddle in bright sunlight when it hasn't rained for days? I see…_ Kakashi looked over the puddle for a bit before returning to his book. The group had walked just a little bit past the puddle when it suddenly transformed into two ninjas with mist headbands, wielding spiked chains.

With easy effort, the spiked chains wrapped around Kakashi and the ninjas pulled hard. Kakashi was torn into shreds, his remains showering the shocked group.

"One down." One ninja said to the other as they charged once more.

"3 more obstacles." The other replied.

Sakura screamed in fright and Konohamaru and Sasuke pulled out kunai, at the ready. The mist ninja's initial charge stopped as they realized they couldn't catch the genins at unawares anymore.

They kept their distance, silently looking for any openings before they fired off their chains at them again. Sasuke quickly threw a shuriken at the chain, only to find it pass straight through the chain.

"An illusion! Shit!" Sasuke turned around to see the mist ninjas charging quickly at them, wielding their spiked chains. The pair charged quickly at the group, the chain between each of them. Sasuke jumped out of the way, while Sakura also dived away. Konohamaru, however was caught unawares and was just about to be cut up by the spiked chains between the two ninjas before Kakashi suddenly jumped at the ninjas from the trees, sending quick kicks during his jump, easily knocking them back.

Before the two ninjas could recover, they were pinned to the tree by Sasuke with two shurikens.

Kakashi stood and appraised Sasuke "Good job on dodging and on reacting." Sakura looked at him with wide eyes "Kakashi-sensei…then…that was a…Kawarimi?" Sakura stared at the shredded piece of logs that had taken Kakashi's place.

Kakashi nodded before turning to Konohamaru "You reacted quick enough at the start, but I'm sorry for not helping you. I didn't expect that you wouldn't be able to move, Konohamaru-kun." He walked over to the 2 mist ninjas while Konohamaru stared at the ground, full of anger at himself.

_Why the hell couldn't I have dodged? Why am I so weak? I don't want Kakashi-sensei to just take care of me all the time! I don't need to be taken care of! Damnit!_ Konohamaru's thoughts were interrupted by Sasuke who walked up to him and smirked "Are you okay, scaredy cat?"

"SHUT UP!" Konohamaru raised a fist to strike Sasuke, but he dodged it with ease. Before a fight could start up, Kakashi returned, glaring at Tazuna.

"Those were C-class missing nins. They seemed to be after you. You got some explaining to do." Kakashi glared at Tazuna, who cowered in fear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto yelled at the world. He had been strolling along the path for more than an hour, completely lost. Despite traveling most of his life, his ability to read a map sucked badly. Really bad. "Let's see here…if I'm here… then Wave Country should be…a years worth of travel? Oh I get it; the waves on the ocean don't represent wave country. So then…WHERE THE HELL AM I?" Naruto yelled in confusion, completely and utterly lost.

"Damnit! I know what I need to do!" Naruto held his arm outward and started spinning around fast. He went so fast that a miniature tornado appeared around him. When he finally stopped, he collapsed with swirls for eyes.

"Ahaha…look…it's ramen…beef ramen…. and there's Eri-neechan and Oji-chan… With ramen everywhere…" Naruto took a full 3 minutes to recover before finally deciding on where to go: where his finger was pointing.

"Oh I see! Well, then, to the goddess of fortune, lead me to Wave Country!" Naruto began walking down the path, not even noticing the sign that clearly depicted Wave country was only 3 miles the exact opposite way of his current path.

----------------------------------------

"So that's the situation with Wave country and Gatou. Will you please still accept this mission?" Tazuna pleaded to Kakashi, who seemed to ponder this over. Tazuna had just explained how Gatou had a tight grip over Wave country, being in complete control over the small country. Gatou had quickly drained the country of any money , including the Daimyo of the country, who only had enough money to pay for a genin squad.

"This mission is over our heads. This is a B-rank mission at the least, possibly A-rank. I suggest we return to Konoha and…"

"HELL NO!" All heads turned to Konohamaru, who had snapped out of his thoughts "I'm trying to prove my strength, and I ain't gonna ruin my record by abandoning my first real mission!"

"But, Konohamaru, this missions is…"

"I don't care if it's above our heads! I won't allow any more ninja to catch me by surprise again! I'll definitely protect the old man!" Konohamaru declared. At his sudden outburst, Sasuke and Sakura seemed more reassured as well.

"So do you wish to continue this mission?" Kakashi looked at his team. They all nodded to which Kakashi returned. He turned to a grinning Tazuna and nodded "Let's go." The group continued on their way, albeit in a more careful way.

-Sometime Later-

The group had nearly reached the borders of the Wave country. Tazuna gleefully kept on talking about his home and family and what was going to happen once he built the bridge. Everyone in the team seemed relaxed, as they were almost in safety. Nothing had really happened after the Mist Ninja's attack rather than a light ambush by some thugs, but that was dealt with extremely easily.

"And then, Inari started…" Tazuna began before he was suddenly pushed down to the ground by Kakashi, who like the rest of his team dodged down to the ground as well.

Just in time too, as a massive zanbato was sent whirling around them, barely missing their heads. The zanbato continued on its path until it embedded in a tree.

Just as Team 7 prepared themselves for this new attacker, a man with half of his face wrapped in bandages dressed in a sleeveless shirt and pants appeared standing on the imbedded zanbato. He sported a mist forehead protector around his forehead. A more disturbing and strange feature was…no eyebrows…

"Ohh? So you managed to dodge my attack. You're better than I thought." The man claimed, "So that's how the demon brothers were defeated, I never would have thought I would go against the famous Copy Ninja, Sharingan no Kakashi."

_Sharingan?_ Sasuke looked in confusion at Kakashi, who had an absolutely serious look on his face. "Copy Ninja? Sharingan no Kakashi?" Sakura and Konohamaru echoed, both in confusion. They never would have thought that their jounin sensei would be famous and have such a title, even if they had no idea what the Sharingan was.

"Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Mist, A-Class ninja. Banished for attempting a coup d'etat on the Mizukage." Kakashi said, his single eye never wavering.

"Oh? I didn't know that I'd be that famous enough to be known by the Leaf shinobi." Kakashi chose not to reply but said to Team 7 "Stay back and guard Tazuna. This guy…he's on a whole new different level."

Zabuza laughed, "That's right brats, stay away if you know what's good for you. Sorry, my job is to kill the old man, and I intend to do the job, if you get in my way then I will kill you." Right after he finished the sentence his eyes narrows and sudden killer intent flooded the area.

The killer intent was so great that Sasuke, Sakura, Konohamaru, and Tazuna were rooted to the spot, unable to even move their hand to grab a kunai. They felt fear running through their hearts, panic freezing their body movements.

_Move move move! Don't stand here and die! This…killer intent…I can hardly breathe. I feel as if I just want to kill myself right now, just to get away! MOVE! MOVE! _Sasuke screamed in his mind, unable to even speak from all the deadly killer intent.

Kakashi sensed that his students were frozen in fear and he turned around, his eye forming into a U to signal that he was grinning under his mask. "Don't worry Sasuke, I won't let any of my teammates be hurt." His statement seemed to calm the genins down slightly, enough for them to form defensive positions around Tazuna and pull out kunais.

Kakashi lifted his hand to his forehead protector "I guess I must go all out on this one." He lifted his forehead protector up to reveal a red eye with 3 tomoe marks. Sasuke gasped and stared intently at Kakashi, with confusion, fear, and anger at once. A non-Uchiha with the Sharingan?

Zabuza chuckled "Oh, Am I treated to the Sharingan so early? What an honor. But, that Sharingan will not save you from me. **_Kirigakure no Jutsu_**" A sudden mist appeared from nowhere, shrouding the area in a heavy cloud of mist.

"Hmmm…Now which way should I kill you? A stab? A slash? Or should I just behead you and be done with it?" The voice of Zabuza rang out, echoing around as to not allow the young ninjas to determine his location.

Before anyone knew it, Zabuza appeared right behind the genins, his huge zanbato set right behind their necks.

"It's over." Zabuza whispered and swung his zanbato down before the Genins could even blink. Just as the huge sword was about to strike, the blade and Zabuza exploded in a burst of water, leaving a dripping wet Kakashi behind him holding a kunai.

"Water clone?" Sakura asked no one in particular. Just as Kakashi destroyed the clone, another Zabuza appeared behind him and sliced him right on the shoulder. Kakashi also exploded into water. Behind the other Zabuza, Kakashi once again appeared, slicing down with another kunai.

"It's over." Kakashi imitated but then he realized his mistake. The Zabuza before him burst to water. "2 water clones!" Kakashi managed to yell before he dodged a narrow attack by Zabuza. After gaining some distance, he formed a seal and forced the mist to disperse. Soon the two were striking at each other and jumped back just as quickly, a huge zanbato against a little kunai. They leapt around the area, too quick for the regular eye to see, blade against blade, and the occasional kick.

Is this a jounin level battle? Amazing, they're faster than the eye can see… Sasuke thought as the two jounin once again clashed before leaping away once more. 

"Heh, you're not bad." Zabuza smirked while Kakashi stayed silent. Zabuza held his sword up and threw it at Kakashi, who leapt away to land in the water, using his chakra to hold him up.

"Heh, you fell for it." Zabuza smirked just as he burst from the water, holding a hand out towards Kakashi who cursed in surprise and tried to escape. But it was to late.

"**_Suiro no Jutsu_**." A large sphere of water appeared around Kakashi, trapping him inside a barrier of water. "Damnit!" Kakashi cursed and tried to find a way out to escape, but found it was impossible.

"**_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu" _**Zabuza muttered and formed a one hand seal, much to the surprise of everyone there. A water clone appeared from the water and jammed his hand into the large sphere. After the clone stuck his hand in the sphere, Zabuza muttered "**_Suiryo, Mizu Bunshin Kyuushui"_** Zabuza then retracted his own hand from the sphere smirking and explaining his technique.

"I developed this little technique quite some time ago. Instead of having to keep my hand submerged in the water to use the chakra to sustain the water prison, I use a Mizu-bunshin that uses about 4 times more chakra than the normal Mizu-bunshin and have the water prison absorb chakra from the clone so I can move freely. Course it only lasts about 3 minutes or so until the clone fades away, but that's all I need to kill the old man and your team."

Kakashi cursed at this, unable to do anything to save his teammates. The smirking Zabuza once again formed the seals for the Hidden Mist technique and shouted "**_Kirigakure no Jutsu!" _**and then disappeared in the mist once again. "**_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu_**"

Once again, Team 7 was blinded and unable to see where their enemy was. "Damnit!" Konohamaru muttered, readying a kunai though he knew he would have little chance to stop the missing-nin.

A Mizu bunshin ran at them, and Sasuke and Konohamaru leapt forward to attempt to deal with it, sending haphazard attacks. Even though the bunshin was 1/10 of the creator's original strength, the combined assaults from the genin couldn't even touch the bunshin. Finally, Sasuke quickly formed some seals and yelled

"**_Katon, Goukakyou no Jutsu_**!" and a massive fireball engulfed the bunshin, effectively destroying the clone. Sasuke smirked at this before the Demon of the Mist's laugh rang out "Feel like you accomplished something? I can easily create 20 more bunshins!" and the genins blanched. They could hardly take on one bunshin but 20?

And Kakashi was forced to watch this through his Sharingan. Just as he thought they were doomed to die, he heard a voice through the mist.

"What the hell is all this mist? And here I'm getting all lost and shit, and then a weird mist appears! What the crap is going on? I'll just get more lost! Better get rid of it." A young voice rang through the mist, surprising anyone there.

Suddenly, a blur appeared through the mist, continuously circling around and around so fast that not even Kakashi's sharingan could see the movements. The mist cleared up from the blur's speed to reveal the youth standing on the road in confusion. He had blonde hair and shockingly blue eyes with three whisker marks on his face, but his enormous conical straw hat, covering most of his face, covered most of his features.

The boy stared at the scene. He blinked. And then he blinked again. He blinked once more and shook his head muttering, "Did I get drunk again?" He blinked once more before starting to whistle "Haruka Kanata" continuing his walk back down the road. An enormous sweat drop appeared on everyone's head, even Zabuza.

"Ah wait! I should stop to ask for directions!" Naruto jumped up and turned towards Zabuza "Hey scary-looking guy with a huge sharp deadly sword, what direction is Wave country?" Zabuza chose not to reply before muttering dangerously "Get out of here kid, before you get hurt. Passer-bys shouldn't get in the way of ninja battles.

The blonde looked around before saying "Oh this is a battle? Looked kinda suspicious." Everyone nearly facefaulted. The blonde continued "Especially that weirdo with no eyebrows. What a weirdo." Zabuza's eyebrows twitched in annoyance and hefted his sword.

"Get out of here before I kill you, brat."

"Ehhhh? But I just need to get some directions…what the hell do you want to kill me for, no-eyebrow freak?" Zabuze roared, "I've warned you once, blonde, and I don't give second warnings. And now…" Zabuza appeared behind Naruto, who just stood calmly "I'll kill you." And Zabuza swung the sword downward on the blonde.

Team 7 flinched and closed their eyes, their mouths opened in silent screams. Tazuna blanched and nearly fainted, while Kakashi closed his eyes. Zabuza smirked as he saw that the blade was not even a centimeter from Naruto's skin on his neck. But something occurred, that he didn't expect; just before the huge sword made contact, the blonde disappeared with a blur, completely taking Zabuza by surprise.

"Hey hey! Swinging such a blade around is dangerous you know!" Naruto whined, his hand holding down his hat, "That's dangerous!" The genins and Tazuna stared at him in shock while Kakashi's eyes widened.

_He's fast_ Zabuza and Kakashi both thought.

"Hmmm…Let's see here…" Naruto looked at the Genin squad protecting Tazuna, then at Kakashi, and then returned his gaze toward Zabuza. He pointed a finger straight at Zabuza, who tensed, ready for some sort of attack. But once again, the blonde surprised him.

"Eeney Meeney Miney Mo…" the blonde continuously moved his finger from Zabuza, Team 7 and Kakashi, and everyone actually face faulted in the middle of the battle, even Kakashi. Anime-logic dictated that face faulting could occur to anyone at any time in any condition. Very strange….

"…. And you are it!" Naruto's finger ended up on Team 7 and he slowly strolled towards them, much to the confusion of all the ninjas standing there.

"Excuse me, but do you know the directions towards Wave country?" Once again, everyone face faulted and Tazuna recovered enough to say "Ummm… it's that way…" He pointed down the road that Naruto had just come from.

"EH? I just came from there!" More sweat drops. "Ah, thanks for the directions. Gotta go." Naruto turned to leave just as Zabuza had appeared in front of him, his sword blocking his way. Konohamaru and the rest of his team jumped in shock as seeing Zabuza appear before them.

"Enough of the jokes!" Zabuza growled darkly pointing his enormous blade at Naruto "I would normally let you go, but there's something about you that pisses me off. I'll just kill you now brat!"

Naruto sighed as he seemingly looked for a way out, only to find that the missing nin was blocking all possible ways of escape. He slowly lifting a hand to tip the edge of his hat down lower over his face "Don't point that sword at me, Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Mist, Former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

_The Seven Swordsman of the Mist? He's a former member? I heard of them, but to actually meet a former member. They're dangerous A and S-class ninjas. But how did this guy know them let alone identify one of the former members?_ Sakura thought, as she stared at the blonde in curiosity; Sasuke and Konohamaru looked in confusion, as they never heard of the Seven Swordsman. 

"Ha, you know my name boy?" Zabuza smirked and jumped back, still pointing his sword at him.

"I make it my business to know all the missing-nins in the bingo book. Especially one whose bounty is as high as yours" Naruto commented, his hat still covering whatever emotion that his face had "I recognized you from a far away, but I decided to set up an act and leave so I could observe your skills but now I can tell that you won't allow an innocent bystander to leave. I guess I'll just have to fight you now."

"Huh? Fight me? You might have dodged my first strike but that was a fluke. It won't happen again. I'll kill you a thousand times over before you can even lay a finger on me, boy. You're just a boy, how the hell do you think you can fight in a battle between ninjas?"

"Get out of here, stranger! He's dangerous!" Konohamaru yelled at the newcomer. "Don't interfere." Sasuke muttered ominously. Sakura just looked at them in fear, not sure whether or not the blonde could help.

"My my, that's rather cruel telling your helper to leave." "Ninjas of Konoha wouldn't let innocent bystanders be harmed" Konohamaru yelled at him. Naruto simply raised his hand and pulled his hat off, throwing it on the ground. Once Kakashi saw the boy's face, his eyes widened in shock.

_Sensei…He looks just like Sensei!_ Kakashi's thoughts raced wildly around his mind. The bunshin that was the energy source of the sphere had dissolved by half by now.

"Momochi Zabuza, I hate to kill, so if you would just surrender peacefully, then I wouldn't have to kill you. Though the villages I'll bring you to might not share the same sentiment. I'd much prefer to bring you alive rather than by your head." Naruto emotionlessly said, his face now completely devoid of emotion.

"Ha! Kill me brat? You couldn't kill me even if you had an 1000 man army behind you!" Zabuza mocked. Naruto ominously replied, "Shall we try?" Naruto then turned toward the frightened team 7 "If I beat this guy, will you lead me to Wave country? I gather that you are from Wave country yes?" Tazuna nodded. "Then I require a place to sleep for a few days. If I beat this guy, would you allow me a room in your home?"

Tazuna, unsure of what else to do, could only stutter "Y-y-yes…"

Naruto nodded, his expression still serious. "Then before I begin, allow me to tell the name of the person who will defeat you. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm not just some bystander. I guess you could sort of say that I'm a ninja bounty hunter of some sort. Now that the introductions are done with, let's begin shall we?" Naruto glared at him, his killing intent rose to a point in which even Zabuza tremble.

_This kid, how much killer intent does he have?_ Zabuza thought in shock, as Naruto's killing intent came off from him in waves. He began to focus his own killer intent, matching Naruto's. Soon the two were facing off with their killing intent, the surroundings seemingly choking from the aura surrounding the ninjas.

Sasuke froze once again and Konohamaru struggled to stand, while Sakura and Tazuna sank to their knees, their necks constricting involuntarily, bile rising in their throats.

After a short evaluation of the enemy, Naruto charged at Zabuza, who wielded his gigantic blade with ease and charged as well. Naruto dodged the initial swing and sent a punch, which was quickly dodged as well. Soon, they began to exchange quick blows, Naruto dodging sword strikes while Zabuza blocked punches and kicks with a free hand. The two's speed and power seemed to rival each other, no one gaining the upper advantage.

Naruto dodged a kick sent his way, and blocked the following sword slice by crossing his arms over his head and letting the gauntlets take the blow, which amazingly still held together. Then Zabuza smirked and swung the blade horizontally through the opening under Naruto's arms.

Just as the sword edge was about to make contact, Naruto disappeared once again, and reappeared behind Zabuza, and kicked Zabuza to send him flying several feet away.

"He's fighting on even terms…with that guy!" Sakura squeaked in fear at the two fighters "How strong is he?" Kakashi seemed to agree with Sakura, his eyes intently on Naruto. The genins were too busy to notice that they could free their teacher, their eyes intent on the fierce battle.

Zabuza cursed as he recovered from Naruto's kick quickly and formed a seal "**_Kirigakure no Jutsu"_** and Zabuza's specialty jutsu activated, flooding the area with mist. Zabuza's voice rang through the mist

"My specialty is silent kills and with the mist, you cannot see me, but I can see you just fine. I can sneak up on you without you knowing and kill you with a single strike. With this technique, you will die!" Naruto looked around the mist in search for the ninja, but before he could do anything, Zabuza appeared behind him, his sword raised for a strike.

"DIE!" The blade swung downward but hit nothing, cutting through the mist-filled air. Zabuza's eyes widen in fear as Naruto appeared behind him, a small knife to his neck.

"My specialty as well as my clan's specialty is stealth and silent kills. We excel in speed and hiding, we could be right behind you in broad daylight, and you would never know. Your so-called stealth skills are terrible; I could tell where you were from a mile away. And now you lose. Do you yield?" Zabuza smirked and his body dissipated into water. Naruto didn't seem surprised at this, and reached inside his cloak to pull out another dagger, which he threw into the mist.

A clanging sound was heard and the mist lifted to reveal Zabuza holding up his sword and the dagger Naruto had thrown at his feet.

"Like I said, your stealth skills are terrible." Naruto muttered, "Without your specialty, then what are you going to do?" Zabuza just laughed at this "You're good brat. Really good."

Naruto smiled in a eerie way "So are you."

"But unlucky for you, I also found your weakness, blonde. Your skills in taijutsu and stealth are amazing, beyond my own, but I have analyzed your main weakness. The reason why you only use taijutsu is because you don't know any ninjutsu!"

Naruto seemed to be surprised before saying, "True. I don't know many ninjutsu at all, let alone any that could be useful in battle." Everyone seemed shocked at this. Someone so strong as he not know any ninjutsu? And he would just admit it just like that?

"Ha! You shouldn't reveal your weakness like that! That was only a slight guess, based from the way you manipulated your chakra, and you've confirmed all doubts. One who doesn't know any ninjutsu like that, you shouldn't try to fight me!"

"It's not like I can't do ninjutsu, it's that I'm terrible at controlling my chakra enough to do any ninjutsu and I can't remember a seal to save my life. Besides, it's not like my clan to fight with ninjutsu. We prefer quiet stealth attacks then full-on loud elemental jutsus."

"And because of that, you will lose this battle." Zabuza began forming many quick seals. Both Kakashi's and Naruto's eyes widened in both shock and recognition as Zabuza went through seals at a lightening quick pace.

Naruto tried to attack Zabuza before he could finish the seals, but it was too late. He jumped out of the way as a massive dragon appeared from the water, completely composed of water. Zabuza yelled "**_Suiton, Suiryuudan no jutsu!"_** And the dragon tried to engulf Naruto within its body but Naruto swiftly leapt out of the way.

Zabuza formed some more seals and yelled "**_Suiton, Teppodama!_**" and he spat out several balls of water, aimed at Naruto, who dodged out of the way. Zabuza continued to fire more and more balls of water; Naruto just dodged out of the way. Zabuza finally finished with another water bullet, which forced Naruto to once again dodge.

"Heh, you figured out my weakness. It's stupid to fight ninjutsu with taijutsu, but my speed exceeds any of your ninjutsus. If your ninjutsu can't hit me, then all you are doing is wasting chakra." Naruto calmly said. Zabuza merely smirked.

"Yes true. But not all offensive ninjutsu are used to attack." Zabuza said, and Naruto's eyes widened as another Zabuza appeared behind him, swinging his sword down.

Naruto quickly jumped out of the way, but couldn't move in time to avoid the sword strike that cut his leg.

"Damnit! I was careless. Those jutsu were all diversions." Naruto muttered, as he swiftly got into a defensive position. Zabuza only smirked and formed more seals "I still got plenty of chakra left to defeat you, boy. **_Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"_** and a gigantic dragon made of water formed from the lake and shot at Naruto, whose injured leg prevented him from moving quick enough to dodge the attack. Naruto sighed and reached behind him to grab the grip of his two swords. Before either could attack, the dragon was hit by another water dragon, which canceled out the jutsu.

"**_Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu_**" Kakashi muttered, finally free from his prison as the bunshin disappeared. Zabuza's eyes widened in surprise "Sharingan no Kakashi!" Zabuza dodged backward as Kakashi jumped forward beside Naruto.

"You fought well, Uzumaki Naruto. Allow me to take him from here on out." Naruto smirked at the silver haired jounin "Took you long enough, Copy Ninja Kakashi. Recognize you from some pictures. You're quite famous?" Kakashi nodded and Naruto sighed, "So that's the famous Sharingan. Well, I'll allow you to handle it." Naruto leapt backwards on his good leg and wrapped up his injuries with bandages he had in his cloak.

"H-how are you so fast?" Sasuke asked the blonde rather jealously. Naruto just stared at him "Hard work." Was his simple reply.

Meanwhile Zabuza was laughing, "I'll beat your Sharingan, Kakashi. That boy was quite strong, now let's see if that Sharingan is really as strong as the…"

"Rumors say." Kakashi finished for him. Zabuza seemed surprised at this and said, "Hmmm…using your Sharingan to…"

"Read my lip movements." Kakashi once again finished. Zabuza began to sweat _It's as if he can…_

"See my thoughts." Kakashi finished off his own thought, leading Zabuza to sweat even more "Freaky eye pissing you off right?" Zabuza growled at this. _Can the Sharingan read minds? No way, that's not…_

"No I'm not reading your mind. I'm seeing your future. And your future is…death." Kakashi finished ominously.

"ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT!" Zabuza began forming numerous seals along with the same speed as Kakashi who formed the exact same hand seals. The two started a race do finish the handseals but in the end Zabuza lost. Before Zabuza could finish his hand seals, Kakashi finished before him and yelled "**_Suiton, Daibakufu no Jutsu!"_** and a enormous wave of water rose the size of a tsunami, rushing at Zabuza, sending him flying through the gigantic wave of water.

_No way! How could he finish the Jutsu before me? Can the Sharingan really see my future?_ Zabuza's last thoughts ran through his mind as the gigantic wave crushed him against a tree, knocking him unconscious; more water flowed past him, nearly drowning him.

Finally the water flow died down and Kakashi walked toward Zabuza, slumped against the tree. Kakashi held out his kunai to slit his throat, but before he could, 3 senbon flew through the air imbedding in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi whirled around in surprise, his kunai held up against the new opponent, which turned out to be a masked hunter-nin.

"Thanks for weakening Zabuza for me. I have been tracking him down for several days now." The hunter-nin jumped down next to the fallen body of Zabuza and checked it for a moment before picking up the body and hefting it on his shoulder.

"I hope we meet again." The hunter-nin disappeared with a flash, leaving a panting Kakashi, wounded Naruto, and a completely dumbstruck genin squad with a panicking bridge builder.

"Damn…used too much chakra for the Sharingan." Kakashi pulled his forehead protector down over his eye and collapsed to the ground unconscious, much to the concern of the bystanders there.

Some time later…

"Hmph. What took you so long?" Zabuza asked a masked boy, who was currently treating his many wounds.

"I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama. I was unable to complete my analysis of the Sharingan quickly enough since I was busy analyzing that blonde's boys moves." The boy replied in a feminine voice, as he continued to bandage the many bruises Naruto gave him during their fight.

"I see…did you see the weaknesses in the Sharingan?"

"Yes."

"How about the blonde's movements?"

"Hai. They are the ideal moves for a silent infiltration and assassination. His punches and kicks all aim for any direct kill spots, but also strike at any openings if any kill spots are unable to be hit. His speed is much faster than my own, or even Zabuza-sama." The boy continued his analysis, slowly removing the senbon in Zabuza's neck.

"I see…what about those movements when he dodged my sword strike at the last moment?"

"The first strike is the most difficult to catch. Any high level shinobi who have witnessed that move before could easily find a counter for it, if they manage to survive the first attack. I believe if he used any weapons, you would have died, Zabuza-sama."

"I see…so he's strong?"

"Hai Zabuza-sama. Very."

"Tell me about the weaknesses in the Sharingan and the boy's movements."

"Hai."

TBC

A/N First major fight! How was it done? Any suggestions or tips? Any comments? How was Naruto's introduction? Well anyways, most of you are probably wondering about Naruto's level…

He's powerful, but not unbeatable. He's a little overpowered, but he's not too powerful. I would say his speed and taijutsu are far better than Lee's but his ninjutsu is pure crap. He can do em, he just doesn't know any useful ones. As this chapter shows, ninjutsu is his greatest weakness. His speed might be on the same as Kakashi, who is supposedly faster than Lee without the weights, but his main forte is stealth and silent kills rather than out in the open fighting. He's at a major disadvantage in an open battle. Also, once his main taijutsu and movement techniques have been analyzed, he can be beaten quite easily. As for kenjutsu...read in later chapters.

His adoptive clan and clan techniques will be explained in later chapters…

Anyways that's for now. Give me some feedback… And leave a review on the way out.


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